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Any point in upgrading?

I've just come into some money (not a huge amount) and I was wondering if I would notice any difference from upgrading from a Q9650 to one of the newer Core i7.

I don't think any of the AMD chips can compete at that level, and I know that I would have to replace my motherboard and memory at the same time - which is quite a big step.

So my question is, would I see a huge performance difference? Or just a little one? Because if it's just a little one then it's probably better for me to wait - perhaps after the next Core i7 refresh which I think is just introducing mainstream parts.

I mainly game (using Vista 64) and program (Using Linux), and also some occasional video encoding (once or twice a month I convert 2hr MPEG2 into H264). Any thoughts?

if you like to throw your money into Malaysia and China by all means go ahead. Your CPU is more then adequate for the time being. The average consumer would not even consider upgrading with a Q9650 right now . Wait a year and see were the world is at. Your computer wont under-perform till then, not by a long shot.

I've just come into some money (not a huge amount) and I was wondering if I would notice any difference from upgrading from a Q9650 to one of the newer Core i7.

I don't think any of the AMD chips can compete at that level, and I know that I would have to replace my motherboard and memory at the same time - which is quite a big step.

So my question is, would I see a huge performance difference? Or just a little one? Because if it's just a little one then it's probably better for me to wait - perhaps after the next Core i7 refresh which I think is just introducing mainstream parts.

I mainly game (using Vista 64) and program (Using Linux), and also some occasional video encoding (once or twice a month I convert 2hr MPEG2 into H264). Any thoughts?

For your uses, it will probably be a waste of money. i7 Has no big advantage in gaming (in fact it's slower on some) right now as that is more GPU intensive and for encoding 4 hours of video to save a few minutes a month hardly seems worth it. Want better gaming, get a better video card. It will yield more of a performance gains then a processor upgrade.

I don't think any of the AMD chips can compete at that level, and I know that I would have to replace my motherboard and memory at the same time - which is quite a big step.

You'd also have to replace your mainboard and ram when updating to a i7, as those are socket 1366 and use dd3, while your Core 2 Quad is socket 775 and uses ddr2. And Intel cpus aren't backwards-compatible like the AMD Phenom IIs. Funnily you'd actually have to update less if you'd swith to AMD, since you could get and AM2+ mobo and keep your ddr2-ram. But you're right, the AMDs aren't realy competing (I think the fastest modell is round about as fast as the slowest i7, at least in some benches).
So an update is definitly not worth the money. It wouldn't be if you'd only have to get the cpu, and especially isn't since you'd also have to get a new mainboard and ram.